We had so much fun! It was weeks after moving in because we had to wait for a day we were all able to be online. We created an invitation, decided on a guest list using a wiki, and loaded the house and beach with fun things to do. Guests played beach volleyball, limbo, danced, and visited a friend's houseboat. We had food, drinks, and a bar inside.
Keyo is my friend, Amethyst's, partner (boyfriend). He is very creative and loves photography and building. Today he took some interesting photos of me using a fire box he made and some backgrounds and pose balls.
This is Alfredo's space in the new house. :-) It's behind one of the bedrooms, meant to be a bathroom, but it's Al's personal space for changing clothes in this house full of females. Al is such a good sport. He is paying the same rent as the rest of us, for no prims to speak of and just this little space to call his own. We all appreciate him. He's a great roommate!
Our landlords had some sort of trouble and had to abandon the SIM we were on. They have a new, smaller one, however, and we were able to get one of the six houses on it! Elle has one. I guess Asrael and Samara have one. Louise, former next door neighbor, is part of our group now. She works for ISTE and we know her through various ISTE events we have attended.
This is the same house we had before but in a much better location. It's fun setting it up all over again. This time I will have less stuff out as we are sharing the prims evenly among the girls. Al has given us all of his. What a sweetheart!
I have been invited to share office space with a friend. We both have this idea that we can find a way to work in Second Life to make enough money to support our habit here! The photo behind me is of my alma mater, JMU, in Second Life.
I have my office! Now I need some skills. :-)
After the Alamo tours last night we invited friends back to the house to relax. Amethyst and Keyo were there. Alfredo invited Norma, who made our costumes, I invited Cyrus, and Mandie was there too. Norma, Alfredo and I debriefed about the experience and we all tried to relax, having been quite keyed up over the event. Several of us got beer or wine in real life to drink while relaxing and we let our avatars indulge as well. Cyrus and Alfredo got looped as you can see from the video! They repeatedly fell into a heap on the floor! Thank you for the video, Norma!
I have completed my first official volunteering job in Second Life. I worried about it for a month, practiced for weeks, and, in the end, I "led" one group through the sim. My group consisted of two of my roommates and a good friend whom I've known in Second Life for nearly four months. It was exciting and fun but I don't think I made a contribution. I did grow. In preparation for this I made several friends as I begged people, acquaintances, for practice time on voice. I also learned, at the last minute, how to add gestures to my avatar while speaking. I learned to create a group voice chat. I acquired an outfit which I will virtually burn as soon as I have the energy! I made a few girlfriends who are long time volunteers and/or employees of ISTE that I will continue to get to know and enjoy. Therefore it was all for ME that I participated in this endeavor, not for the good of others. Maybe my growth will translate into help for someone else someday. I hope so! Here is a movie of the event that my friend, Norma, uploaded to her blog. She is an art teacher and was the costume creator. If you look closely you can see both me, near the beginning, and Alfredo, near the end.
